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the only way to move forward is

sustainably

At paper republic, we make it our mission to show that beauty, style and sustainability go hand in hand, out of respect for the environment, our customers and ourselves.

materials & suppliers
in-house production
long-lasting products
circularity & no waste

materials & suppliers

We choose our materials with care. A lot of thought and research goes into our choice of materials and suppliers. We only settle for the best quality, most sustainable materials, and it is important to us that you know exactly what you get.

leather

Our vegetable-tanned vachetta leather comes from a family-run tannery in Tuscany, Italy. It is certified by the Genuine Italian Vegetable-Tanned Leather Consortium (Pelle al Vegetale), guaranteeing that the hides are tanned using only natural raw materials in a traditional and eco-friendly process.

Tannins are used to tan the leather. They are vegetable extracts, powders extracted from plants such as Quebracho, Mimosa and chestnut trees. No chrome is used in the tanning process. Once the leather is tanned, it can be used as is or dyed. It is coloured using aniline dyes, which are soluble in water and colour leather without covering the natural grain of its surface. All the dyes used for our leather respect the European REACH protocol.

why no vegan leather?

Nearly all vegan alternatives to leather contain plastic, which is simply not an option for us. This concerns the look & feel, but also the durability of the product and the environmental impact of plastic. Our leather is a natural by-product and is sustainable, as it minimises waste from an existing production.

We continue to research vegan leather options for our journals. As of yet we still haven’t found a suitable alternative.

paper, ink & printing

We use only natural paper from Austria, Germany and Sweden. All our paper is unbleached, acid-free, FSC and Cradle to Cradle certified. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification ensures that our paper products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. Most of our paper suppliers are carbon neutral. This means that the inevitable CO2 emissions generated by the production are measured and compensated by investing in internationally recognised climate and sustainability projects.

Our printing partner is located in Vienna, not far from our own workshop. The family-run printing company uses certified organic printing inks. They are a carbon neutral company and have earned multiple sustainability certifications.

in-house production

All leather products are handcrafted in our own workshop in Vienna. This means more flexibility, shorter transport routes, and less carbon emissions. With greater control over our work processes, we can ensure high-quality, durable products.

our workshop in Vienna

Over the past years, we have built our own leather workshop from the ground up. All leather products are handmade locally by our specially trained leather designers. Every step of the production process is done in-house, from punching the leather, splitting the pieces, gluing and sewing the parts together, finishing the edges with polishing wax, to embossing and packing the final product. Even the packaging boxes are completed in our workshop. Quality checks are done by our production and stock teams.

flexibility & quality

Producing everything in-house gives us the advantage of being able to recognise and rectify production errors early on and to optimise our processes easily when needed. This high degree of flexibility and spontaneity means we have greater control over quality, production quantities and delivery times. By avoiding middlemen from production to sales, we can have shorter transport routes, reduce carbon emissions, costs and waiting time, but also pass on more value to our customers and keep a close eye on the quality of the goods we produce.

long-lasting products

We make leather products that last a lifetime. Vegetable-tanned leather is one of the rare materials that improves with age and use, and embodies the passage of time with an authentic patina, unique to each leather piece.

timeless & personal

We design and craft timeless products. They don’t follow a short lived trend but are made to become lifelong companions. With the leather embossing option, our customers have a say in the final look of the product and develop a more personal relationship with their leather companion. This, in turn, has a direct impact on appreciation and longevity of the product.

a modular concept

The modular concept for our leather journals and our portfolios allows you to easily renew and rearrange their content (refills). It lets you adapt your journal to your needs anytime, while keeping the same leather cover over the years.

care & repair

Just like for anything that is dear to us, it is important to give your leather companions the adequate care, to ensure its longevity.

coming soon: tips & tricks on how to give your leather products the care they deserve.

circularity & no waste

Our concern for the environment translates into the materials we use, our production process and our office life: All our products are plastic-free, we minimise production waste as best we can, and we place sustainability at the core of our daily office life.

No animal is killed for their leather.

The hides are a by-product of the meat industry that, if discarded, would have a way greater environmental impact. Vegetable- tanned leather is biodegradable at the end of its life. Many substances used during the tanning process are recovered, recycled, and reused for different purposes, such as fertilizers or construction material.

We minimise production waste.

We have developed an efficient system to minimise or even avoid leather waste altogether. We punch the individual leather hides in the most resource-saving way possible, using up as much leather as we can. We use larger, imperfect leather scraps for prototypes of upcoming products, and produce keyrings, bag tags and bookmarks out of smaller leftover leather pieces, as gifts for our customers.

We develop small products (e.g., wallet, pen loop), parts of which can be made from leftover leather pieces. The smallest pieces are then collected and sold at a fair price to anyone who wants to experiment or improve their leather crafting skills. See our leather recrafting box.

We separate & recycle.

We see it as our duty to educate and inform our employees about waste management and sustainable behaviour. An employee from the Municipal Department for Waste Management & Street Cleaning (MA48) held a workshop about waste separation and recycling for our team. In accordance with the guidelines, we set up a waste separation system in our office.

Welcome to the jungle.

In 2021, we took in plants from the former botanical university next to our workshop. As the university relocated, some plants were moved, but many were left in the greenhouse. We rescued several decade-old Ficus plants, palm trees and many more. A botanist from the university held a workshop for our team on how to care for the plants. We are now giving them a new life in our workshop.

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